Belleville’s deputy fire chief is clarifying the rules around the city’s warming centre, after a man died in the downtown core overnight last week, with reports saying he had refused to use the facility because of those rules.
Deputy Fire Chief Paul Patry oversees the warming centre, which operates out of the former Belleville Police Service headquarters, on nights when the temperature drops below minus 10 degrees Celsius, or minus 15 with the windchill.
Patry says while the warming centre does not provide beds, it does not prohibit people from sleeping while they’re there, despite some belief around the community to the contrary.
“We don’t encourage it, or discourage it. So, someone wants to put their head down on a table and have a nap, they’re welcome to. We now have an environment in which people can close their eyes and not have to worry about being assaulted, or a theft of their limited personal belongings.”
Patry added that, while the rules are rather loose and are based on “mutual respect for each other”, there have been instances where people have been asked to leave.
“Let’s just say, after repeated instances, if they’ve been asked to be more considerate to others, or there is no call for that sort of aggressive behaviour towards people, they’ve been asked to leave. But I can also equally say that when we open up again, we reset the clock and you’re more than welcome.”
He says, along with rules banning illegal drug use and pets, the only other formal restrictions in place are connected to the COVID-19 guidelines laid out by HPE Public Health.
Patry says their current pandemic capacity is 28 people, but they haven’t hit that number yet this year and he expects their capacity will grow as COVID-19 restrictions begin to ease.
